Apparatus for casting ingots or the like.



W. J. EVANS.

APPARATUS FOR CASTING INGOTS OR THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 30, 1907.

Patented Jan. 12, 1909. I

2 BHEETSSHEET l.

animator 4A7 Em H a n 1 wi u use:

I w. J. EVANS. APPARATUS FOR CASTING INGOTS OR THE LIKE.

APPLIOATION TILED D30. 30, 1907.

Patented Jan. 12, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 avwentoz [/MJ Elm/: 5,

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIOE.

WILLIAM J. EVANS, OF ASPINWALL, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR CASTING INGOTS OR THE LIKE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM J. EVANS, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Aspinwall, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Casting Ingots or the Like, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to an apparatus for casting ingots or the like, and is particularly designed for the casting of such ingots as are used for the production of rails, or structural shapes of various forms.

My invention aims to provide a novel apparatus for simultaneously filling a pluralit of ingot molds, to avoid piping or the ormation of fissures or fractures, in the upper end of an ingot. In this connection, my apparatus is particularly designed for the production of ingots used for making rails, it being a well known fact that the ingots at present used are cropped ten per cent. to eliminate a pipe, and consequently a fracture or fissure in the end of a rail rolled from the ingot.

The piping of an ingot is due to two important actions that take place during the cooling of the ingot. First, there occurs what 1s known as a segregation of material, that is to say, certain of the constituents of the steel, such as carbon, phosphorus, and other impurities, being of little specific gravity, tend to separate out from the mass and gather towards the top of the ingot. Also, since the metal cools from the outside towards the center, there is a tendency of the soldifying metal to shrink towards the outer surface, and this causes a cupshaped depression at the top of the ingot, which extends down in the form of a narrow slit or crack in the body of the metal, which together with-gas bubbles, forms what are known as 'pipes.' It is impossible to eliminate these ipes by rolling, so the ingots are cut oti and the piped pieces rejected are remelted in a furnace.

My invention dispenses with the cropping or cutting of ingots, and the relneltmg of the rejected portions of the in ot. Instead of croppin an ingot, I fill tie p1pe or fissnrein e upper end of the ingot, and thereby provide an ingot that can be rolled I Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 30, 1907. Serial No. 408,635.

Patented Jan. 12, 1909.

bottom fill and a top fill for an ingot mold,

the latter being accomplished after the former, and in due time toproduce a solid ingot, from which hard and tenacious rails or similar articles can be rolled.

The apparatus will be presently described in detail, and reference will now be had to the drawings forming a part of this specification, wherein,

Figure 1 is an elevation of an apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention, Fig. .2 is a plan of the same, Fig. 3 is an ingot as ordinarily produced in a mold, Fig. l. is a longitudinal sectional View of the apparatus, and Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view. In the accompanying drawings, 1 designates a suitable support for a plurality of ingot molds or shells 2. The support 1 is formed with a central gate 3 the bore 4 of which terminates at the upper end in a funnel shaped mouth 5. In the support 1 is formed a plurality of radiating channels 6, establishing communication between the bore of the common gate 3 and the interior of each of the molds or shells 2 through the medium of openings 7, formed in the support 1 beneath each mold or shell. It is therefore evident that the molds or shells 2 are circumferentially arranged with respect to the central gate or gateway 3, and a circular support can economically be used.

Erected over the support 1 is a track 8, and movably mounted upon said track is a truck 9 carrying a platform 10. Centrally of the platform 10 is located a pouring-gate 11 having a funnel-shaped mouth 12. This gate is provided with radiating conduits 13 Those parts of the apparatus subjected 'to the action of molten metal are made of a non-fusible material as vitrified brick or cla l n operation, I will assume that an ordinary ladle (not shown) is contiguous to the apparatus and capable of pouring molten metal into the gateway 3 and the pouring gate 11.

When the platform is moved from over the molds or shells 2, molten metal is first poured into the gateway 3, and by virtue of the channels 6 flows into each mold of the group from the bottom thereof. A suflicient quantity of metal is poured into the molds in this manner to occupy approximately seventy-five per cent. of each mold or shell, and, due to the solidification of the molten metal, a shrinking action takes place and produces, ut supra pipes. One of these pipes is illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, where it will be observed that in order to eliminate the pipe 22, it is necessary that the ingot be cropped at least twenty-five per cent., it being the practice at present to crop ingots an average of ten per cent. Now, with my apparatus, when these pipes or fissures are formed, I eliminate the same by filling the molds or shells 2 from the top. This is accomplished by moving the platform 10 to a osition over the molds or shells 2. The epending spouts will then vertically aline with the molds or shells, and molten metal can be poured into the be per 11, to pass through the conduits 13 an spouts 15 into the molds or shells.

When the extra charge of molten metal solidifies in the top of a mold or shell, the pipe is exceedmgly small, due to the small charge of extra metal, and in the process of rolling, the small pipe or fissure formed can be easily eliminated.

It is thought that the general usefulness of my: paratus in the production of ingots will lly understood by those conversant with the art of manufacturing steel, and while I have only illustrated one set of molds or ingot shells, it is obvious that the track can be of suflicient length to permit of the platform overhead fillin dev1ce being shifted from one group of mo ds to another.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new, is

1. An apparatus of the type described embodying a support, a gate carried thereby, and havin al'bore formed therein, a plurality of mo ds or shells arranged upon said support-and having their lower ends communicating with the bore of said "ate,a track located over said support, a true movably mounted upon said track, a platform carried by said truck, a pouringate carried by said latform, a pluralit of depending spouts etachably connecte to said plat- 65 form and in communication with said pouring-gate, and means carriedv by said platform for supporting said spouts. 2. In a molding apparatus, aplurahty of molds, a gateway common to all the molds and in communication therewith at the bottom thereof, a truck movably-supported above the molds, a pouring-gate carried by said truck, and a plurality of spouts, one for each mold, carried by said truck and each in communication with said pouring-gate, I the said spouts when the truck is moved over the molds alining with the latter for delivering molten metal to -the molds at the upper ends of the latter.

3. In a molding apparatus, a group of molds having a common gateway communieating with the molds at the bottom thereof, in combination with mold filling means movably-supported above the molds and embodying a pouring-gate and a plurality of spouts one for each mold of the group, each of said spouts in communication with said pouringgate.

4. In a molding apparatus, a group of molds having a common gateway communicating with the molds at the bottom thereof, a truck movably-supported above said molds, a platform carried by said truck, pouring spouts carried by said platform, one for eachmold of the group for delivering molten metal to the molds at the tops thereof, and a pouring-gate carried by the platformand in communication with each of said pouring spouts.

5. Ina molding apparatus, a group of molds having a common gateway in communication with the molds atthe bottom of the latter and through which molten metal is fed to the molds, and means for also introducing molten metal into the molds at the tops thereof comprising a group of movably-supported pouring-spouts, one for each mold, and a pouring-gate movable with the pouring-spout and common to all of said spouts.

6, In a molding apparatus, a mold fillin dev1ce comprising a movably supported truck having a platform, a pouring-gate carried thereby, a plurality of radiating conduits on the platform each communicatin at its inner end with the pouring-gate, and a plurality of filling-spouts carried by the platform each extending through the latter and in communication at their upper ends with the conduits at the outer end of the latter.

7. In a molding apparatus, a mold filling dev1ce comprising a movably-supported platform, a pouring-gate carried thereby, a plurality of conduits. on the platform radiating 125 from the pouring-gate and each communicating at the inner end with said ate, rods depending from said platform, Iates carried by the lower ends of said re s and provided with ,openings, and pouring-spouts having their upper ends extending through the platform and communicating with the conduits and their lower ends engaged by said plates, the openings in the plates registering with the openings in the spouts.

8. n a molding apparatus, a mold'filling device comprising a movably-supported platform, a pouring-gate carried thereby, a plurality of conduits carried by the platform radiating from the pouring-gate, rods extended through said platform and depending below the same, said rods arranged in pairs and having hooked upper ends, pins engaging in the hooks of each pair of rods and suspending the latter, apertured-plates 15 carried by the lower ends of said rods, and pouring-spouts having their lower ends en gaging said plates, the apertures in the plates alining with the spouts.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature 20 in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM J. EVANS.

Witnesses:

MAX H. SRoLovrrz, K. H. BUTLER. 

